Museveni sworn in as Uganda President for 6th term, Uhuru present

Yoweri Museveni has been sworn in as Uganda President for a sixth term in a ceremony attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta and other African heads of state.

President Kenyatta, who is the current East African Community (EAC), arrived in Uganda on Wednesday morning.

He was accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries Raychelle Omamo (Foreign Affairs), Peter Munya (Agriculture) and James Macharia (Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development).

Other Heads of State who were present include Suluhu Samia Hassan (Tanzania); Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia); Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (Democratic Republic of Congo); Nana Akufo-Addo (Ghana); Alpha Condé (Guinea); Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe); Hage Gottfried Geingob (Namibia); Salva Kiir Mayardit (South Sudan) and Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo (Somalia).

Museveni and his National Resistance Movement party were declared winner of the January 14 elections with 58.6% of the vote.

Wine and his National Unity Platform, which came in second with 34%, however say the vote was rigged.

Ugandan security operations were ramped up around the capital ahead of the inauguration.

This included tight security around the home of opposition leader Bobi Wine, who accused the government of fraud in January’s election.

The situation around my home is still tense. Dozens of soldiers are surrounding my home, checking every vehicle that comes in or goes out. All this to suppress the citizens' voices as the emperor crowns himself for a 6th term! In this I am confident- WE SHALL OVERCOME pic.twitter.com/IDiTfEIoEz

— BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) May 10, 2021

“In fact, today they deployed some more [security forces]. We don’t know whether their intention is to hold him under house arrest. Honorable Kyagulanyi has not written to them to ask for security. Today, at our party headquarters in Kamwokya, the military sent war tankers (tanks). But for us, all this is panic. Panic by Mr. Museveni and his regime, because they are afraid of Ugandans. Simply because they know they stole the victory of Ugandans,” said Joel Ssenyonyi, the National Unity Platform party spokesperson.

The streets of Kampala were also heavily guarded by foot patrols of soldiers, rooftop snipers, artillery pieces, armored vehicles and riot police.

Additional report from VOA